Someone was asking for art ideas for elementary kids. Thought I'd share
this one from a book I wrote. It's fun!!
MaryAnn Kohl
maryann

Bread Dough Coins
from the book Global Art
(For ages 4+)
Young artists work up a dough from stale bread to make cookie shaped
coins they can paint.
GREECE
Did you know? From the earliest times, people have used salt, nails,
stones, whale teeth, shells and almost anything imaginable as money.
Gradually people began to use gold, silver and jewelry as money
inmanageable and convenient shapes and sizes. The Chinese were among the
first to use coins, but the Greeks were the first to add art to their
coins. They stamped pictures of rulers, leaders, heroes, architecture,
religion, art and athletic events on every coin.

Materials
white bread, stale (two slices per artist)
bowl
white glue
aluminum foil
small, round cookie cutter
food coloring and paintbrushes
Process
1. Tear the crusts off the bread. Discard or use to feed the birds.
2. Tear the bread into small pieces and place them in the bowl. Add
enough white glue to make the bread somewhat wet, but not overly runny.
3. With fingers, mash the bread and glue together to make a dough-like
mixture. If needed, add more glue. (Too much glue? Add more bread.)
4. Hand roll the dough into balls. Then flatten each ball on aluminum
foil with fingers.
5. Use the cookie cutter to cut the dough balls into small circles. If
you don't have a small cookie cutter, use the lids off a medicine bottle
or even a film canister.
6. Leave the circles on the foil. Paint designs or pictures on the bread
dough coins with food coloring.
7. Then let them dry until hard.